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Monday, May 3, 2010

Appam ~ A not-so-traditional recipe!!

Warning – This is not the traditional recipe for Appam.

Appam,known by many names-Palappam,Vellayapam,Aappam is a fluffy rice pancake made originally with kallu[toddy] which gives it the unique sweet and sour taste.It is a quite popular breakfast item in Kerala and a rockstar during Christian wedding feasts and festivals.Paired with Stew[mostly mutton] it has a very homely tag attached to it.

Most recipes use yeast for the fermentation of the Appam batter.Long back,my amma tried to recreate this recipe from Vanitha and had to serve it to our maid since none of us liked the smell of the yeast and we wouldn’t go anywhere near it.Then one day,she made some yummy Potato stew and such delicious looking lacy appams and they smelt wonderful too,with none of that funny smelling yeast and I was eager to know what the magic was.

Adding Eno fruit salt to a simple rice and coconut batter did the trick.We were instant appam converts!I have been following the same recipe too and it has never failed me.

Appam

Ingredients[makes 8-10 appams]Raw rice – 1 cupCooked rice – ½ cupGrated coconut – ½ cupSalt to tasteBaking powder – 1 tspSugar – 1 tbspEno Fruit salt – 1 sachetMethodSoak the raw rice for 4-6 hours.Grind to a smooth batter adding the cooked rice and grated coconut and enough water.Add the baking powder and salt.Mix well and keep it covered for 8-10 hours.[I keep it overnight]Next morning add sugar and mix well,add more water if the batter is too thick-it has to be of pouring consistency.Just before you start making the appam,add eno fruit salt to the batter.The batter will froth up instantly,mix gently.Heat a non stick appa chatti[appam pan] or any non stick kadai.Pour a ladleful of batter into the pan when it is hot and swirl the pan in a clockwise motion spreading the batter to the sides of the pan.Swirling the pan gives the appam the customary pretty lace edges and a spongy centre.Close the lid and cook on medium heat for about 2-3 minutes.Remove the appam to a plate and serve hot with Stew,Mutta roast,Kadala curry or just sweetened coconut milk.

That appam looks beautiful wahetever it is:)...Then regarding your comment on the icing, i frosted it thick and probably my son (and myself) kept on eating it, it was just perfect. I wish i had a bit more to finish the top....u see that messy swirls i put on top?:).coulnt complete as i expected......I think even if we dont eat, there would just be a bit extra not more if we are elaborating on deoration....I made half the quantity right...may be it will be too much when i double the recipe?Thank for poiting out...when i double teh cake, i will reduce teh quantity.

These are making me hungry.. have you ever tried the double horse easy pallappam podi? It is so easy with that one and is almost similar tasting.. now I just use that one. Amma made it the conventional way, but after she discovered this podi she converted me too..haha..

Those appams looks perfect with that beautiful lace :) and adding Eno to appam batter, that's completely new to me :) I think I should give this link to my MIL, because my FIL also doesnt like yeast, this sounds a great option :)

Hi, I tried this recipe for the 1st time !!and yess..it worked....i never thot I would be making such a good one....i usually never dare to prepare appam but after I read your recipe, i made it just the very next day ...thanks a ton to you for this :-)

Hello Divya!I m gonna try this....so much simple....do I really have to try adding cooked rice? Can I skip it? this is truly a lovely blog. Cant believe you can get supplies in ernakulam.thank for the ernakulam store update. Awesome work.

Hey Smitha,adding cooked rice gives a nice texture to the appam,but sometimes I don't have enough cooked rice for the batter and this is what I do-cook 1/4 cup of rava in about 2 cups of water till it gets cooked-thick and porridge like.Cool it and then add it to the ground batter.Rest everything the same.

I know the comment is dripping with sarcasm,but got to clarify.We do not give leftover food items to our maid-we didn't like the smell of yeast but that doesn't mean it tasted bad.Traditional recipe of appam does call for it and it does not have an awful taste at all,in fact we didn't like it because we are not used to it.The appams were very much edible and that's why it went into the plate of our maid,if it wasn't,it would go straight to the waste bin.Thanks for commenting anyway:)